Barack Obama, Manmohan Singh to meet as per schedule on September 27 in US

WASHINGTON: The White House meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama will be held as per schedule on September 27, despite the latter being busy due to ongoing Syrian crisis.

While no formal bilateral Obama-Singh meeting has been planned on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in St Petersburg, Russia, the two leaders are expected to interact on its margins this week, officials told PTI here.

Officials from both the countries yesterday ruled out the possibility of any changes in the pre-scheduled September 27 meeting between Obama and Singh at the White House, due to ongoing Syrian crisis.

Obama has decided to take military action against the Assad regime of Syria and has sought authorization from the Congress in this regard.

The Congress is expected to vote on it early next week. While no timeline of the military attack has been announced, Obama is expected to order for military action only after he receives Congressional authorization.

The United States, according to Secretary of State John Kerry, has reached out to over a 100 countries, of which 34 nations have promised to support in some form.

The Obama Administration has consulted with India on Syria, even though publicly there have been differences between the two.

India insists it will not support any military action against a sovereign nation without the approval of the UN Security Council, while the US President has decided to bypass the world body arguing that its two veto-powered members - Russia and China - are unwilling to hold the Assad regime accountable for alleged use of chemical weapons.

A meeting amidst the Syrian war would be part of the discussion between Singh and Obama when they meet on September 27, preparations for which are in the final stages.